Wow.

The final day (half-day, actually) was a blur, partly because it went so fast and partly because I was semi-comatose for most of it, I think. This day began, as you recall, at 3am (due to the alarm clock incident). I was at the Skillet in plenty of time to sample some of their gourmet breakfast stuff, and by the time it was over had already consumed a total of five cups of coffee (and one Monster at around 3:30am). I was still groggy.

It seemed like the entire OTM tribe was a tad overwhelmed by the experience of the event, as much or more than I was. Again we started the day at nine with three backstage presentations (you pick one), but this time they were only an hour long, total. I had the privilege of working the room that contained Todd Hunter and “Young Leaders” (I introduced them as Todd Hunter and the Young Guns, of course). Todd is the president of Alpha, USA, and is one of the more brilliant thinkers and gifted writers I have met. He has spent much of his life researching, writing about, and working with young people, and although he doesn’t think he’s an evangelist, he has been totally consumed with the concepts and idea of it for 30 years. He interviewed, for this session, three 20-something leaders, having them talk about what they see happening with the church, the next generation, and the world. The coolest part was the ending…what do you see in the generation after YOU that seems hopeful to you? Almost all of them were VERY hopeful, talking about how this next gen is so committed to community (and seems to understand that their own sin affects the entire community, not just themselves), and that they see to be committed to serving others and making the world a better place. It was a really encouraging way to finish out the event for me.

We went from that session to one more workshop session, and again I ended up in a hallway discussion instead. This time it was with Phil Wyman, friend of witches from Salem, Massachusetts. We actually ended up talking most of the time about missional churches and what to do with young families and small children during those kind of services (this is something nobody seems to have figured out yet).

The event concluded in the main room with an hour or so of music, commercials, and interviews with some of our featured speakers…except this time the “stars” were asked to introduce us to someone they met at the event who they thought everyone should meet. One by one the featured speakers got up and called up someone from the audience who they then introduced and asked to share about two minutes of what they were doing. It was really cool. Jim Henderson had set this up with a statement about celebrity and power. He said that most of the folks on stage are viewed as having power by those who are not on stage, and that this carries a responsibility for those of us who follow Jesus. “I just can’t figure out why Jesus would give me this kind of power unless He wanted me to give it away.”

Wow again.

So we ended by demonstrating “otherlyness” on stage. And as we closed with another amazing artist singing her guts out (and I’m sorry…I don’t know who she was), we were quite suddenly left standing together in the room in degree of disbelief and wonder about what we had come through together. It was over.

I think most of us were partly glad to have it end, honestly. It was incredible, but it was nearly too much. INTENSE in ways that I have never felt intensity…not like stressed out, grit your teeth with a headache intensity, but relational, mind-blowing, OH MY GOD DID I JUST LIKE THAT PERSON??? kind of amazement and wonder and awe intensity. I think were all needed a beer (or at least a nap) by the time we said goodbye. But it was an ending of sweet sorrow, to be sure.

I was just damn glad to be there.

Near the end a woman handed me a Starbuck’s cup with one of those pithy quotes printed on the side. She was at my Doable Evangelism workshop and when she read this it reminded her of what I had shared regarding evangelism. As I read it this morning, it seems to sum up the whole “Hear, Listen, Connect” event for me:

“You can learn a lot more from listening than you can from talking. Find someone with whom you don’t agree in the slightest and ask them to explain themselves at length. Then take a seat, shut your mouth, and don’t argue back. It’s physically impossible to listen with your mouth open.” John Moe, radio host and author of “Conservatize Me”

Amen.